April 26-30, 2021 Dinghy drift, diving boat, Woodbine crafish festival

Monday. There was a dinghy drift tonight to watch the full moon rise at sunset.  It was a super moon because it was the closest to the earth in it’s orbit this year.

 

 

 

 

 Wednesday.  Our air conditioner wasn’t working properly.  It needs to draw water in through a filter.  The filter was fine, so Dave decided to dive and check it out.  He found a plastic grocery bag covering the intake.
 

Friday. Pete, Dave and I drove to Woodbine, GA for a crawfish festival at Captain Stan’s.  It is rare to find boiled crawfish in Georgia.  They were just what we were looking for.  Dave has always liked them.  I acquired a taste for them when we lived in Alabama.  Not sure where Pete first had them.  There was a sweet little girl about 3 years old sitting at the table behind Dave with curly blonde hair.  We were waving at her and her daddy said “you can say hey to them”.  We heard the sweetest little “hey” come out of her.  Not hi or hello, but “hey”.  So cute!!

April 19-25, 2021 Cumberland Island, GA

Monday
The Killion’s left about noon on Monday.  We spent the day preparing the boat to move to Cumberland Island

Tuesday we left about 10:00am for Cumberland Island.  We traveled on the ICW past Jekyll Island and arrived about 3:00pm.

Erin helping anchor

 

Wednesday We took the dinghy to the south dock on Cumberland Island and hiked across the island to the beach.  We saw several wild horses along the way.  There were several large jelly fish on the beach, similar to Jekyll Island earlier this week.  Very unusual.  On the hike back, we saw an armadillo rummaging in the leaves under a boardwalk. 

 

 

 

great to have the beach to ourselves

 

our boat at anchor between the dock posts

Back at the boat, Joe rigged up his own crab bait net and tried to catch dinner for us.  We didn’t have our net to bring them in, so he didn’t have any luck getting them onto the boat.  But it kept him busy.

 

Thursday Dave took Joe and Erin to the north dock and returned to the boat. We had a day to do routing boat chores (and nap).  They rented bicycles and road north on the island to explore.  

dinghy an the way back from the north dock

 

 

Friday I set my alarm to watch a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral at 5:30am.  Joe and Erin joined me.  The launch was about 200 miles south of us.  We were treated to a beautiful show in the dark morning sky. 

We headed back to Brunswick today because the weather will be rough on Saturday.  We enjoyed the trip back through the ICW.

Saturday As predicted, it was a very windy day.  We went to St Simon’s island for dinner and a walk on the pier.

Silver Bluff Brewery in downtown Brunswick

Sunday The Clausen’s left on the early flight out of Brunswick.  Always fun to see them.

April 17-18, 2021 Killion's and Clausen's visiting GA

Saturday
Today, Joe and Erin Clausen from Minneapolis flew into Brunswick.  After they arrived late morning, we all went to a local Mexican grocery store that also has a small restaurant.  We call it a “step above a taco wagon”.  Out of 7 people, only Erin and I didn’t speak Spanish.  I can order off the menu and know a few other words.  Everyone ordered in Spanish, but I noticed the waitress would ask her questions in English.  It was nice of her to let everyone practice or use their native language.

We went back to the marina to partake in the last of a free BBQ and drinks supplies by a boat broker and the marina.  We were able to get one glass of beer and wine before it was over.  
We ended up hanging out longer visiting with other boaters before we returned to our boat with more beer.  We were almost mugged carrying the beer down our dock to our boat.  We all went to our favorite BBQ restaurant for dinner, Wille Jewel’s, since we missed the BBQ earlier. 

I took this photo off of the internet, thus the square over Joe's face.  there were several pictures of the BBQ event, but they caught Joe at the free beer tap

The Killions and Clausens had met each other in the Black Hills a few times.  They have all been long time friends, so it was fun for all of us to be together.  Dave and Joe were “training” 9 year old Alex.
 

Sunday
We spent the day on Jekyll Island together.  We visited the pier on the north end and Driftwood Beach on the east ocean side.  Then we spent time in the historic district which included a drink on the veranda of the Jekyll Island Club hotel. 

Erin and Joe, Brian and AnaMaría, Mary, Alex, Dave

 

 

 

lunch at Tortuga Jacks with a view of the ocean

 

That night, AnaMaría made ceviche for us.  She used shrimp and tuna.  It was amazing!!  There were a couple unique things about here ceviche.  She “cooked” the tuna in lime juice as usual.  But she made a broth and boiled the shrimp.  She added the tuna and the chopped vegetables to the shrimp with some of the broth.  So it was actually served warm.  They add a dollop of peanut butter (sugarless) and serve it over fried plantains chips.  So YUMMY!

April 15-16, 2021 New water leak, and prep for company

We have a couple days to get the boat ready for company.  On the way back to Brunswick landing Marina, we discovered a different leak.  This one is forward from the area that was just taken care of.  We had water in the v berth on the floor and on a bench on the port side, and a corner of our mattress.  

Today, we removed the ceiling panels in the v berth.  There were spots of mildew, but not bad.  I went outside and hosed down every fixture and window while Dave watched for water to come in.  The only thing he could see was from the port hatch.  It seemed minor.  So we switched places just in case Dave thought of a place I hadn’t.  Nothing.  Dave used 4200 to connect the ends of the seal where they meet.  Either it wasn’t done properly to begin with, or it shrank and came out over time.  We’re going to test it again on the open water and hope that took care of it.

I had the lovely job of cleaning all the mildew off of the ceiling.  Presto works wonders.  You spray it on, walk away, and 15 minutes later, it’s gone!!  The following photos are from a different area on the boat, but show's how it works without touching it.

 

I put our salon back into order and continued to clean as needed.  We made a trip to our storage unit to pick up our power washer to clean the exterior of the boat (deck and cockpit).  Dave also picked up fuel jugs, that were stored, to top off our fuel tank.  I located the bedding and towels we would need for guests, but will pick up later.  Back at the marina, Dave filled fuel jugs and brought them to the boat.  Nice having a rental car for that.  Otherwise he has to walk about a half mile with the fuel jugs in a cart.

I had a quick appointment with my dermatologist.  I had too many sunburns as a lifeguard back in the 70’s to ignore any changes.  Luckily she only had to freeze a small spot off of my nose.  

Dave replaced a toilet pump assembly in our aft head.  Poop juice would back up into the bowl.  Sometimes you can replace a part, but he hates messing with it any more than necessary.  So he keeps spares on board.  

Friday
I took time off from cleaning at have lunch with several ladies at the marina.  I always enjoy those luncheons.

We had 2 sets of company arriving tonight and tomorrow.  One was supposed to be here last weekend, but their plans changed.  It all worked out.  Tonight, Brian Killion, his new wife, Ana María, and her son, Alex, arrived late evening.  The two of them are from Ecuador, and it was our first time meeting them.  We have known Brian for about 30 years.  They are traveling in a van that they are converting to an RV.  So they were able to sleep in it, not on the boat.  Our marina was ok with them staying a few nights right in our parking lot.  Of course, we stayed up way too late visiting.